Girls basketball: Lumpkin shoots past Bluff; Chestatee, Branch, NHall, Buford win; Dawson, Gainesville, Rabun lose

DAHLONEGA — Lumpkin County's Isabel Davenport was on fire from behind the 3-point arc in the second half to lead the Indians to a 57-33 win over Region 7-3A foe Cherokee Bluff at the Longhouse on Friday. 

After a quick start in the first quarter, the Indians' offense was almost non-existent in the second quarter, mostly due to the Bears' zone pressure. And Bluff (3-16, 0-7 Region 7-3A) took advantage of the misses and closed the gap to three points, 24-21, at the break.

"They do a pretty good job, and they're big in their 2-3 zone," Dowse said. I thought early on we shot the ball really well -- sometimes that can work for you and against you. After a quick start, we went cold a bit." 

But after a few halftime adjustments by Lumpkin coach David Dowse with a stingy defense and the hot hand of Davenport, the Indians (11-7, 3-4 Region 7-3A) went on a run, outpacing the Bears 33-12 in the second. The Indian defense held two of the Bears' key players, Madi Phillips and Timber Gaither to a combined 2 points in the second half. 

Gaither scored a team-high 12 points, and Phillips tossed in 9 points. 

"They do a pretty good job, and they're big in their 2-3 zone," Dowse said. "We talked at halftime about attacking and how we wanted to attack it. I thought early on we got some matchups and overloads that we wanted. We got some good looks and knocked them down. In the second quarter, we weren't making those shots."

Davenport scored 11 points, 9 from the 3-point arc, and all but four of the Indians 15 third-quarter points, to help push them ahead, 39-23 after the third quarter.

Davenport finished the night with 23 points -- 18 of those from 3-point range and 17 points in the second half. Lexi Pierce also was key in knocking the ice off the rim in the second half, scoring 9 of her 17 points. 

"I was really proud of our team with the energy and effort we played with to start the third quarter," Dowse said. "That's kind of been an Achille's heel for us in the past. Hopefully, now we've moved on from that problem."

CHESTATEE 54,
DENMARK 37

Four Chestatee players scored in double-digits to lead the War Eagles past Denmark on Friday.

Emma Eastwood scored 14 points and Bowen Corley hit for 11, while Danielle Bull and Logan Wiggins scored 10 points each to lead the War Eagles.

Chestatee (10-8, 4-3 Region 7-4A) will travel to North Hall Saturday. Tip is scheduled for 6 p.m.

FLOWERY BRANCH 59,
WEST HALL 31

Ashlee Locke scored 17 points in the Falcons win over West Hall in Oakwood on Friday.

The first quarter ended in a 10-10 stalemate, but the Falcons outscored the Spartans 18-7 in the second quarter to take a 28-17 advantage to the locker room. 

The Falcons pushed the lead to 44-23 at the end of the third quarter. 

Bella Brick and Emilee Scott added 10 points each.

WINDER-BARROW 55,
GAINESVILLE 46

Winder-Barrow slowly outpaced the Red Elephants in an 11-point win Friday night in Gainesville.

Gainesville led 15-14 at the end of the first but trailed 29-28 at the half. The Red Elephants stayed close in the second half but could not score enough to take the lead and hold on to it.  

Lauren Teasley led seven Gainesville scorers with 16 points. Sadie Roach added 11 points for the Lady Red Elephants (7-10, 2-2 Region 8-AAAAAA) who return to action at home on Tuesday against Lanier. 

NORTH HALL 44,
EAST HALL 32

Lauren Swanson scored 14 points and Grace Hollifield had 12 to lift the Trojans over East Hall at home on Friday. 

It wasn't a good start for either team in the first half, with North Hall leading 9-2 after the opening quarter. The Trojans were able to push their lead to 10 points at the half, 22-12 and 33-17 after the third quarter. 

Callie Dale scored 9 points to lead the Vikings, and Maleah Harrison and Alexis Burce had 8 points each. 

North Hall (14-5, 5-2 Region 7-3A) will play Chestatee at home on Saturday. Tip is set for 6 p.m.

East Hall (5-12, 2-5 Region 7-3A) will play Monroe Area at home on Saturday. Game time is 4 p.m.

PUTNAM COUNTY 58,
RABUN COUNTY 54

The long trip to Putnam County was not a good one for the Wildcats as they dropped their first game of the season on Friday

Laken Stiles led the Wildcats with 14 points, and Carley Harben tallied 12 points. Destiny Deetz finished with 9 points, 7 steals and 5 blocks. 

Rabun (16-1, 6-1 Region 8-2A) will play Oglethorpe County at home on Tuesday. Game time is 6 p.m.

BUFORD 49,
LOGANVILLE 42 

Tate Walters scored a team-high 13 points in the Wolves win over Loganville Friday on the road.

Tamori Plantin added 11 points in the win.

Buford (16-0, 4-0 Region 8-5A) will play Peachtree Ridge at Buford Arena on Saturday at 2 p.m.

FANNIN COUNTY 54,
DAWSON COUNTY 53

Fannin's Olvia Sisson hit a free throw with 7.7 seconds left to beat Dawson County in Blue Ridge on Friday.

No. 4-ranked Fannin County (13-4, 4-3 Region 7-3A) opened the top-10 battle against seventh-ranked Dawson County (11-7, 5-2 Region 7-3A) on a 9-0 run which led to a 13-point advantage at the half. 

Marlie Townley, who scored a game-high 24 points and grabbed 15 rebounds, was the fire behind the Tigers come back in the second half. But freshman Kirklyn Porter wasn't too far behind Townley. 

Porter, who scored 17 points, 11 in the fourth quarter, gave the Tigers their first lead, 41-40, off a 3-point basket with 7:07 left in the game. The shot sent the game into a back-and-forth battle down to the last second.  would rally to tie the game at 53-53 in the final minute, then get the game-winner on Olvia Sisson's free throw with 7.7 seconds.

Fannin was led by Morgan Holt's 19 points.

The Tigers will play Greater Atlanta Christian at home on Tuesday. Game time is 6 p.m.

Lumpkin County's Sarah Majors plays defense in Indians 57-33 win over Cherokee Bluff on Friday in Dahlonega.

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